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Sunday, July 15, 2012

Hello again! Here is my natural, earthy, casual wedding card for a wedding I have coming up in August. Think burlap and twine, brown paper and mason jars with candles. You know, all things hot and trendy on Pinterest right now! I helped this bride design her invitations and I must say they turned out great! I might post one, but they are hard to photograph and even harder to appreciate without it in your hand... I wanted to make her a wedding card with the same style and design so here it is.

Everything is lightly sponged with Soft Suede ink for a softened look. The Wild Wasabi piece is distressed (just crumpled then smoothed out) and torn. And the poppies were colored with an Aqua Painter and some Wild Wasabi ink.

I used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches on this one, and obviously let some things off kilter to make it my own. If you look closely I'm sure you'll see the resemblence though!

And a shot at the inside too. You may notice by now, I like things a little off kilter, unusual and asymetrical. Hope you like it anyway! :) Thanks for visiting.
~Kristin

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Good morning! I had a chance to sit at my desk yesterday and play with some of my new stuff from the brand new Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalog so I finally have something to share with you today. See this stamp set?! It is available this month for ONLY $5 with a $50 order. It is valued at over $20! HERE is a link to this awesome promotion! If you'd like to place an order with me just shoot me an email and I'll be glad to get you taken care of!

Mojo Monday offered up this fabulous sketch to try out so I did, along with the beautiful color pallette from Color Q to use Daffodil Delight, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip and Pear Pizzazz (yes, there is a tiny bit of pear on there). It is funny to me how warm and sunny More Mustard can look paired with the bright yellow of Daffodil Delight! Finally, the ladies at SU-Only Challenges suggested we make a special thank you this week, so here it is. How 'bout that, three challenges in one?!

You would be ashamed of me how long it took to get this card figured out. I tried nearly every combination of these colors, different patterns, angles, accents etc. Geez- it's been WAY TOO LONG since I've stamped! Hopefully now I'm on a roll, we'll see.

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Here are two of the challenges. Don't they look awesome?! Thanks for stopping by today. Stop back tomorrow for a very natural, earthy, casual wedding card.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Well, this post wraps up my 10 Artisan Award entries. This is my final 3D project. I made a bunch of paper beads with the Cheeful Treat DSP, a hostess option from the previous catalog. To make the beads you use narrow triangle strips of paper and roll them tightly over a toothpick then glue then end down to hold in place. I then strung them on fishing line and painted them with Modge Podge. Once they dried I sprayed them with a matte acrylic sealer.

Once the beads were done I decided to make my very first set of earrings and matching two-strand bracelet. I am so proud of how they turned out! Making jewelry is harder than I thought! I added SU's Filigree brads for decorative finishes to both, plus a Basic Rhinestone to the bracelet. ﻿

Since the focus was my jewelry pieces I kept the gift box quite simple- an unused plastic stamp case filled with some crimped paper filler and tied with a satin vanilla ribbon. The gift card was made with the Mixed Bunch stamp set and matching flower punch.

I mentioned these were extra special to me yesterday so I'll tell you why. Not only are these my very first attempt at making jewelry, but I used my mom's huge stash of jewelry making supplies.

As some of you may recall my dear mom passed away very suddenly last July 6th. She was an avid jewelry maker and most of my favorite necklaces, bracelets and earrings are all her designs! In her honor I decided to give it a try- something I've always wanted to do.

My dad sent me all her stuff- including how-to books thank heavens! And as I was trying to figure out what to do I came across the beginnings of a two-strand bracelet that she had started. No beads yet, but she'd done the hard part of putting the findings together for one end.

That was my only jewelry making "lesson" I'd ever gotten from her and the inspiration to attempt a two strand bracelet instead of something more basic. So now you know why they were so special to me and why I made my little gift card a Mother's Day card.

So thanks for sticking with me on my Artisan Award journey, even though it didn't end as I'd hoped. Hopefully the timing will work out for me to try again next year. Have a safe weekend and hug your loved ones while you can!
~Kristin

PS- Just this past week I've attempted another jewelry design. When it is complete I will post it here, even though it will be non stamping related entirely. Maybe I'll start another page on my blog for jewelry!

Friday, July 6, 2012

My fifth and final card entry for Stampin' Up!'s Artistan Award. You know what is funny about this?? I made it for my own color challenge way back when (which is still posted on the top right column) and liked it enough to save it for the contest. I even used a sketch from somewhere. I love the colors and dimension of this one, from the stamping on the butterfly to the dry embossing on the scalloped card base.

I used the Triple Layer Flower Punch for the scallop behind the 1" circle punch. Sentiment is from Petite Pairs. ﻿

Here is the inside. I kept it very simple, focusing most of my attention on the front of all my cards. My downside, perhaps?? Who knows!

Well, stop back tomorrow and I'll have my final project posted which is my 2nd 3D item with some special significance for me. The one I'm most sad about not getting back but I hope someone is enjoying at least! Maybe Shelli Gardner, SU CEO, herself!

Thanks for visiting and for all the sweet comments you've been leaving! I'll be nervous to start stamping again- might not live up to your expectations after this. :) But one of these days I'll put all my new goodies to use!

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Boy, not great photos of this page, but here is my 3rd and final scrapbook layout I entered in the Artisan Award contest. Once again I could not bare to put a single photo on the page, but instead chose my 4 favorites to "tell the story". This is my daughter eating a Superman ice cream cone last summer on the beach at a campground in Northern Michigan. It was so hot and the ice cream melted so quickly it left a sticky, colorful mess! I tried to keep it simple in color and design to showcase the photos more. Below are pictures of the many little subtle details....

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Since I struggled with titles using all CURRENT Stampin' Up! products I decided to try a banner title using the pennant punch and the stamp set Fabulous Phrases. I was so pleased with how it turned out. The fact that beautiful didn't fit and needed to be layered ended up being a bonus I thought. I used the Penant Parade stamp set to stamp the background on the penants.

Here is a closeup shot of the embossed corners. I was particularly pleased with this detail since it took some work to just emboss the corner of a 12x12 page in the Big Shot which is only, what, 6 inches wide?! Part of me wishes I'd left the brads off though. I used the Adorning Accents embossing folder, Pretty in Pink brads and Pretty in Pink striped ribbon.

The required journaling was, once again, hidden behind the main photo. I raised the ice cream cone embellishment on a double layer of Stampin' Dimensionals so it would nicely slide over the picture but also anchor the journaling box so it can slide out easily. Added a bit of Dazzling Diamonds for sprinkles and the drip was made with the triple layer flower punch (the part you throw away!).

Here is the journaling box. I used the Top Note die which is secured with a length of pink satin ribbon so it doesn't fall out and can only slide out so far.

Here is the whole thing with the journaling slide out. Did you notice the spritzing in the background? That was a LAST minute decision and I had to do a LOT of masking and even removed a few things to add it after everything was glued down! That's a tough decision to risk the whole page- especially since the Smooch Spritz is so tempermental (meaning you can easily spray large unwanted globs if not extremely careful). Lisa Henke gave me the boost I needed to go for it- thanks Lisa!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Sorry I've taken awhile to post the rest of my projects. Squeezing in some camping trips and other fun family stuff before football season keeps us home.